Monday, July 1, 2013

Energy

Keeping the energy up has been a challenge.
I drove home to Kentucky yesterday.
The Florida heat was too much to continue walking there this time of year.
I didn't take Nice (the dog) to find his long lost friend in Jupiter.
Perhaps another time, when it is not so hot.
My first day back in Louisville I visited friends and family.
I met with my sister for breakfast early in the morning. She had been visiting her daughters and was about to drive out of town. The last time we saw each other I was walking out of town, she was headed back back to her job up north.
Many things have transpired during the past six months that I have felt validated my decisions. Meeting my sister when I began this chapter six months ago, then again when I returned somehow made sense.
After I said goodbye to my sister , I went to visit my friend, 94 year old Helena. She was outside, like she had been waiting for me. At ninety four, I was concerned I might not see her again. Her granddaughter (the woman who gave me Nice(the puppy) had told me she had fallen several times while I was away. Seeing the old woman's smile was heartwarming .
Nice (the dog) and I walked for hours around the neighborhoods where he had grown up. His happiness was infectious. He pulled me to visit old neighbors and friends. We stopped at every bush and tree. He smiled and cooed all day.
The last I person I visited was my son. We talked for hours. Rather I listened to him talk about school , his new job and his new girlfriend. I brought a box of things I had collected for him. I felt like I had when he was a child opening presents for the holidays or his birthday. It was great to see him happy after years of his struggle to find his way. Seeing him again was one of the best moments of the year.
The first day out of Pensacola, I got a ride from a man who had asked me to send pictures of single shoes I saw on the side of the road.
Once finished with the walk to Tampa, I found a shoe and had to stop for my last picture of Tampa. A shoe for his oneshoediaries.com .
While we were four months on Spring Hill, I continued posting on this blog. It was not easy. I usually stop posting between walks. The views to the page were not large. As long as I posted something, the small group followed. I was surprised, validated. The visits will likely fall off to nothing now, as they have in previous walks.
That is as it should be.
My thoughts are spinning and I need more time to make sense of what I have learned and seen.
Now that I am back in Kentucky ,we will nest here for awhile. Heal for a brief time. Build strength.
Gather energy.
Then step out again to help change the world.

No comments:

Support the Foundation

Erik Bendl has walked over six thousand miles for the cause of diabetes awareness. During the last six years he and his dog, named Nice, have walked in more than forty states and Washington D.C. to help the American Diabetes Association and encourage people to get healthy with exercise and diet to control and prevent diabetes. His is a simple message... "Love yourself. Go for a walk."

When you see him on the road stop to say hello, walk with him or call him @ (502) 408-5772.http://main.diabetes.org/goto/teamworldguy